Entrepreneurs bemoan government intervention
Senior executives at UK-based small to medium-sized companies are struggling to achieve growth under the weight of legislation and government intervention, a survey has found.
According to Bowmark Capital, a lower mid-market private equity firm, 70% of senior executives said that government initiatives had been a burden over the past six months, compared to the 56% who thought that was the case in the last survey in January.
Tax has become a significantly heavier problem than it was last year, according to the Bowmark’s Entrepreneurs’ Index, with 65% of respondents saying it was an unfair burden, compared to 43% previously. Nearly two-thirds ranked it jointly with skill shortages as a major obstacle to growth.
The survey also found that nearly a third, 29%, of private equity groups were being offered less attractive debt from banks than six months ago, while more than one if four, 27%, were experiencing tighter terms of working capital and investments in fixed assets.
But despite worsening economic conditions, 98% said they were having no problems servicing their existing debt.
The survey also found that private equity remained a key funding tool for many businesses: 53% of publishing and media groups had private equity backing, as did half of healthcare firms, 40% of business services companies and more than a third of travel and leisure groups.
The overall outlook among the chief executives and managing directors surveyed was gloomy. Bowmark’s Optimism Index showed respondents’ confidence in their own businesses had fallen significantly since the last survey.
--Write to osmiddy@Efinancialnews.com
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